Sunday, December 30, 2012

Shawn Chittle explains this Flint Artifact: "My grandfather's WWII draft notice/excused from employment from Flint AC spark plug. He never retuned to AC after the war, instead forming Chittle's Restaurant and Bar Supply at 1812 Beach St. until 1983. He still owns the building there."

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The website for Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City by Gordon Young is now up and running. It features photos, excerpts, online pre-order information, and other details about the book, which will be available in stores in June.Check it out here.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Tom Torri worked at A.C. from 1960 until 1987 in an engineering
test lab, systems and programming, and product development. He then transferred to Delco Electronics in Kokomo, Indiana, and worked in advanced product
engineering — where he helped develop the first LCD displays on the control panels — and
eventually in product reliability. Tom retired in 2000, but he still has plenty of A.C. memorabilia around the house.The A.C. lamp
was a give-away to employees. The A.C. decanter came with Jim Beam and employees had to buy them.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Saturday, December 15, 2012

If you've ever thought it would be cool to fly over Flint in a jet pack, you definitely want to check out Steve Lehto's latest book, The Great American Jet Pack. You may remember Steve from his work as a DJ and talkshow host in the '80s and '90s at WTRX, WWCK, and WFDF.So just how did he come up with the book idea? Steve explains:

I wrote a book on the Chrysler Turbine car and doing that research, I found
out that Sam Williams had been instrumental in both the engine in the turbine
car and the engine in the jet belt. I mentioned this in the book and my
publisher asked me if I thought I could write a book on the history of jet pack
technology. It sounded like a cool idea and a great excuse to study a fun topic.
And, it turns out, there WAS a whole book of material out there. I interviewed
guys who flew the old rocket belts – the ones which could only fly for 21
seconds and I also spoke to the one and only guy who EVER flew the jet belt (the
one with the mini-turbine engine in it). It was a lot of fun to research.

My cartoons have been stuck on refrigerators, office cubicles, and
bulletin boards — the highest award a cartoonist can hope for. I have
drawn comics for various newspapers, magazines, companies, and websites.
My editorial cartoons have appeared in the “Best Editorial Cartoons of
the Year” compilations by Pelican Publishing Company Inc. I am a member
of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

Born in Pennsylvania, raised in South Carolina and Michigan, I started
drawing comics when I was eight-years-old. I’m married now (to my
high-school sweetheart), have three beautiful children, two needy cats,
and work as a technical communications specialist for Johnson Controls,
Inc. , but can still be found more often than not hunched over my
drawing table.
Everybody can draw. I am living proof of this. Through practice and a
willingness to take chances, I have taken a seed of meager artistic
talent and grown it into a flourishing hibiscus of meager artistic
talent.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

That looks like a pen, not a rivet gun. (Photo courtesy of Sean Work/Mlive)

Legendary Flint writer Ben Hamper will be signing copies of Rivethead: Tales From the Assembly Line at the the Barnes & Noble store at the Genesee Valley mall on December 13 at 5 p.m. Go here for a recent interview with Hamper.

Hollywood may make movies about the evils of capitalism, but it rarely
works without incentives, which are paid for by taxpayers. Nationwide,
about $1.5 billion in tax breaks is awarded to the film industry each
year, according to a state-by-state survey by The New York Times.

Within two months, 24 movies had signed up to film in Michigan — up from
two the entire year before. The productions estimated that they would
spend $195 million filming there, and in return they would be refunded
about $70 million in cash.

Before long, residents were rushing out on their lunch breaks to catch a
glimpse of celebrities like Drew Barrymore, who was filming her movie
“Whip It” in Ann Arbor, and Clint Eastwood, who was shooting “Gran
Torino” in the Detroit area. Even Michael Moore, who was filming a movie
about corporate welfare called “Capitalism: A Love Story,” sought and
received incentives.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Blake Thorne of Mlive reports: "In May, the building was the location of three fires in one week. The building has been closed for about ten years. There are no plans yet for the property after demolition...."

One of the great things about San Francisco, especially if you're a Gen X'er, is the ability to go back to scenes from your childhood on a regular basis. It's not 2012 at this particular spot in Bernal Heights. It's the mid-seventies.

Provided you embrace the spirit of a few of the bumper stickers and not the specifics.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

I won't miss staring at this computer or the City of Flint map of abandoned structures.

I recently moved out of the tiny office I was renting on Treat Street in San Francisco, a sure sign that my work on Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City is nearly complete. The editing process is almost finished, and the book will be published by the University of California Press in April 2013. It's been a long process that really started in the fall of 2007 when I launched the Flint Expatriates blog. I feel like I know Flint better now than I ever did when I was growing up off Dayton Avenue in Civic Park.

Five years of Flint research looking for a new home somewhere in my 700 sq. ft. house.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

The New York Times has a story today illustrating one of life's lessons that Flint learned long ago...just because a city is nice to a corporation like G.M. doesn't mean G.M. is going to return the favor.Louise Story reports:

In the end, the money that towns across America gave General Motors did not matter.

When the automaker released a list of factories it was closing during
bankruptcy three years ago, communities that had considered themselves
G.M.’s business partners were among the targets.

For years, mayors and governors anxious about local jobs had agreed to
G.M.’s demands for cash rewards, free buildings, worker training and
lucrative tax breaks. As late as 2007, the company was telling local
officials that these sorts of incentives would “further G.M.’s strong
relationship” with them and be a “win/win situation,” according to town
council notes from one Michigan community.

Yet at least 50 properties on the 2009 liquidation list were in towns
and states that had awarded incentives, adding up to billions in
taxpayer dollars, according to data compiled by The New York Times.

Extraterrestrials take note: Flint is not necessarily a friendly environment. Ron "Space Cowboy" Fonger of The Flint Journalreports:

Just
weeks after a man told police he spotted an unidentified flying object
above the Rave theaters in Flint Township, three more sightings — one
each in the Flint, Flushing and Grand Blanc areas — have been made to
the Mutual UFO Network.

This
month alone, 13 online reports from the county have been made to MUFON,
ranging from randomly flashing, multi-colored lights to to a large,
glowing object to a bright orange light hovering above tree tops.

"I
believe a great deal of the reason for the ever-growing number of
reports is growing popularity of both UFOs and MUFON in general," said Robert Nolan, chief investigator with MUFON, who said he may visit the county this weekend to have a look around for himself.

If you're in the market for a visual metaphor of Flint's decline, look no further than this shot of Angelo's from a few year...

"Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City" by Gordon Young

An intimate, indepth exploration of the past, present, and future of Flint, Michigan. Essential reading for anyone trying to understand why bad things — like the Flint Water Crisis — keep happening to Flint.

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"I grew up on the Eastside and recall the unexplained pride I felt when the 3:30 Buick factory whistle blew and the roughly dressed workers poured out of the General Motors labyrinth swinging their lunch pails. Some were headed for home and some for the corner bar, but all with the determined step of an army after a battle won. I somehow felt as if I were a part of this giant assembly line and the city it fed."